Born in the dacoit-infested Chambal, Manoj Kumar Sharma is the son of a clerk. His father, an honest man, is suspended for hitting a corrupt officer. Manoj prepares cheat slips for his Class 12 exams, as do all his batchmates. However, a newly transferred police officer, DSP Dushyant Singh, stops cheating in the school. As a result, all the students, including Manoj, fail the exam. Meanwhile, his father goes to challenge his suspension in the High Court. The brothers decide to run a travelling rickshaw to help out at home. Manoj's brother is falsely accused of hitting the local henchman of the MLA after he tries to get their passengers to travel on a bus; for which the police officers frame him. However, Manoj bails his brother out with the help of DSP Dushyant, who advises Manoj to "stop cheating" to become an officer like him.

One year later, Manoj passes his exams without cheating and pursues a B.A. to become a DSP. His grandmother gives him all her savings as he sets out to study in Gwalior but loses all his belongings on the way. He then comes to know that the government has decided to stop the Group I exams of MPPSC for the next three years. This destroys his dream of becoming a DSP. He roams around the streets until he is about to faint, but a local hotel owner near the local railway station feeds him. There he meets Pritam Pandey, who had also come to study for the PSC exam. Pandey's father calls him and tells him to prepare for the UPSC exam in Delhi. Manoj learns about UPSC and travels with Pritam to Delhi to study and become an IPS officer. He meets Gauri Bhaiya, a fellow aspirant on his last attempt to pass, who provides Manoj with work and a place to study. However, Gauri Bhaiya is unable to clear his final attempt and opens a coaching institute.

The following year, Manoj fails the preliminary examination but with Gauri's help, he reappears and manages to clear it. During a visit to a coaching centre, he meets Shraddha Joshi, a UKPSC aspirant, and falls in love with her. He tells her that he is an aeronautical engineer rather than a literature graduate. Despite hard work, Manoj fails to clear his main examinations that year; his relationship with Shraddha also suffers when she learns of his lie. Disheartened, Manoj decides to visit Mussoorie to apologise to Shraddha and confess his love. She advises him to return to Delhi and continue preparing. Instead, Manoj visits his home and finds that his grandmother has passed away. He returns to Delhi determined to pass the examination.

Frustrated, Gauri moves Manoj to his own house and tells him to give up working odd jobs and focus completely on his studies. He finally clears the main examinations, while Shraddha clears her UKPSC examinations as well to become a Deputy Collector. Meanwhile, Pritam, who failed his exams, spreads rumours that Shraddha has been sleeping with Manoj. Manoj becomes very angry with Pritam but realises that Pritam really wants to be a reporter but his father pressured him to pursue the UPSC. Manoj advises Pritam to stand up against his father.
During the interview round, he answers every question honestly. He also receives a letter written to him by Shraddha asking him to marry her. Two months later, when the results are declared with Manoj qualifying the rank to become an IPS officer. One year later, Manoj, now an IPS officer, meets DSP Dushyant Singh at the police station in Mandsaur to thank the DSP for encouraging him. Manoj marries Shraddha, and Pritam begins working as a news reporter.